News Blog

WEEK AHEAD: Events for the week of Monday, November 14

Later today, there will be blood drive that is doubling as a tribute to the late Gary Stern, owner of Village Gate in the Neighborhood of the Arts. The drive is from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. today (Monday, November 14) at Village Gate plaza on North Goodman Street.

Stern was a key figure in NOTA’s redevelopment. Many credit him as a visionary who helped transform the neighborhood into the city’s artistic and cultural heart.

To register to give blood, go to www.redcrossblood.org and enter “14607” in the “Find a Drive” box.

Donors will get pizza, free Dryden Theatre passes, and more.

Three meetings on the city’s Master Plan will take place this week. The meetings are designed to let residents share their ideas about the future of the City of Rochester. The meetings will be an open-house format with members of the project team available to answer questions.

The city has begun updating its Master Plan, which was adopted by City Council in 1999. The updated plan will be called “Rochester 4.0 – Our Neighborhoods, Our Future.” The plan seeks to establish a cohesive vision to guide the city’s growth and development.

More information: www.cityofrochester.gov/comprehensiveplanupdate or (585) 428-6824. BY CHRISTINE CARRIE FIEN

The First Unitarian Church of Rochester will present “What is the TPP?" a panel discussion at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15. The discussion will focus on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and whether it will bring prosperity and more jobs to the US and counter Chinese influence in Asia, or if it will threaten labor and the environment. The event will be held at the church at 220 Winton Road South.

The League of Women Voters-Rochester will host “Our Local Attorney General’s Office: What’s in it for You?” at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 14. LWV members want to be sure that the Attorney General’s Office has a rounded view of the many problems in this area from lead contamination to housing discrimination to civil rights concerns.

Ted O’Brien, who heads the Rochester office, will be at the meeting to answer questions and address issues. The event will be held at Asbury First United Methodist Church, 1050 East Avenue. BY TIM LOUIS MACALUSO

Tuesday is the deadline for County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo to submit her 2017 budget proposal – her first as exec – to the County Legislature. County law says the executive has to submit a budget proposal on or before November 15.

During her campaign, Dinolfo pledged that she wouldn’t raise the county property tax rate, which is the same promise her predecessor, Republican Maggie Brooks, built her $1 billion budgets around. But Democratic county legislators stress that while the tax rate hasn’t gone up, the county has implemented new charges for services and increased some fees.

Legislature Democrats and some community advocates are also calling on Dinolfo to increase county support for child day care subsidies.

To that end, the Rochester Raging Grannies will “rage,” as the group puts it in a press release, during the public forum at Tuesday’s County Legislature meeting. The session starts at 6 p.m. in the Legislature’s chambers at the County Office Building, 39 West Main Street. BY JEREMY MOULE